1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of preventing pollution of isolated areas of water and in particular to boat harbors having an opening or entrance interfacing a moving body of water such as a stream or river.
2. Background Art
Boat harbors having an entrance interfacing a larger body of water are often polluted with floating algae and debris. This condition is aggravated when the entrance to the harbor interfaces a moving body of water, such as a river, which induces an eddy within the confines of the harbor. As anyone who has ever walked along the edge a stream will observe, these eddies circulate within isolated areas and often are filled with debris. The circular motion of the eddy currents effectively inhibit the escape of the collected debris back into the stream.
The collected debris, over a period of time, pollutes the harbor, stains the boats and often gives rise to a foul odor. The floating debris may include algae, dead fish, seaweed, tree leaves, tree branches and other material, both natural or manmade.
Mechanical barriers to inhibit the entrance of debris into the harbor and prevent its pollution are impractical since they would have to be moved out of the way or lowered each time a boat enters or leaves the harbor. Alternatively, the harbor must be cleaned periodically. This process could be a costly and time-consuming since it might require moving the docked boats.
The invention is a method and apparatus for inhibiting surface pollutants from entering a quiescent body of water, such as a harbor, which has an entrance interfacing a moving body of water such as a river. The method consists of generating a jet stream of water at the surface of the moving body of water, which diverts the surface water and the debris carried therein away from the entrance to the harbor. By diverting the surface layer of the moving body of water away from the entrance to the harbor, pollutants and floating debris are inhibited from entering the harbor and polluting the waters contained therein.
It is an object of the invention to inhibit the pollution of an isolated area of water interfacing a moving body of water.
It is another object of the invention is to divert the water adjacent to the surface of a moving body of water away from the entrance to a harbor to prevent pollution thereof.
Another object of the invention is to use hydraulic pumps to generate jet streams of water on opposite sides of the entrance to a harbor to divert the water at the surface adjacent to the opening in a direction away from the harbor.
Yet another object of the invention is to induce a current in the harbor effective in the removal of pollutants.
These and other objects will become more apparent from a reading of the specification in conjunction with the drawings.